Garden Design Ideas: Spring Vignette

Spring is a time of optimism, reassurance, and resurgence. We all just feel better. Yes it’s the longer days, yes it’s freedom from the oppressive blanket of snow, and we are literally shedding that which has weighed us down: winter jackets, hats, scarves, gloves. The lightness we feel, the spring in our step is partially due to the lack of heavy boots on our feet! But it is also all the new colorful life emerging in the dull brown landscape. Don’t you find yourself cheering them on?

When crocus, snow drops, winter aconitum, and hellebores break dormancy and bloom, those little flecks of color signal the finish line. From an evolutionary standpoint, I imagine we’re all so happy and relieved because we and our little flower friends survived another winter. Yay! Go team!

Or perhaps they are our cheerleaders?

With that in mind, let’s talk about garden design. Knowing that each spring you feel delighted and encouraged by those harbingers of the season, why spread them out, dotted here and there? Why leave them as solitary specks, overwhelmed by the still sleeping landscape. Why not concentrate the earliest bloomers into a spring vignette (or several) placed where you will either pass by them on your way in and out of the house, or an area you can see as you gaze out your window? Why not strategically group them where they will have the greatest impact on your mood?

For a lovely blue and white combination, plant a mix of the small early blooming shrub like the white Korean forsythia and early blooming bulbs like, snow drops (Galanthus nivalis), Scilla siberica, grape hyacinth (Muscari) with hardy perennials such as ajuga ‘Chocolate Chips’ Helleborus ‘Josef Lemper (pure white flower), white bleeding heart, pansies and violas.



By including Candytuft (Iberis), forget-me-nots (Myosotis sylvatica), Virginia Blue Bells (Metensia Viginica), and Blue Lungwart (Pulmonaria 'blue ensign'), your blue and white vignette will transition floriferously into April.

The fragrant spring blooms of Daphne
‘Carol Mackie’ are not the only winning features of this shade tolerant, deer
resistant shrub. The delicate, variegated foliage is an attractive addition to the garden all season long.

If pink is your preference, mix Pieris Variegata with American cranberry, a stunning evergreen ground cover (Vaccinum macrocarpon), with Helleborus ‘Rosemary’ or ‘Ivory Prince.’ The thick rosy foliage of Berginia ‘Baby Doll’ precedes its pink flowers and adds a great texture to not only garden beds but also container plantings. Add Ajuga ‘Pink Lighting,’ pink Primula or creeping Phlox and your vignette will blush with blooms and color all spring long.



Epimediums flower in several different colors: Epimedium x rubrum has not only diminutive, deep pink fairy flowers, but the ruby tinted leaves will add even more color to your early spring garden.



Another early pink option is Jacob’s Ladder ‘Stairway to Heaven’ (Polemonium reptans) because even though later the blooms will be blue, the new spring foliage is a stunning pink.



If high drama and deep purple are more your speed, mix the stunning dark pinkish purple buds of Pieris ‘Dorothy Wycoff’ with the green, near black, white and pink blooms of Helleborus ‘Royal Heritage.’ Add in the dark purple Fritillaria persica and ajuga ‘Black Scallop’ and you will have a sophisticated spring vignette with attitude.

For a more fiery combo, plant Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’ (a red blooming witch hazel), winter aconite (Eranthis cilicica), Helleborus foetidus 'Gold Bullion', the yellow blooms of perennial Allysum and Lamiastrum ‘Herman’s Pride’ plus the golden foliage of Euphorbia ‘First Blush.’ And of course bulbs like Daffodils 'February Gold' and Daffodils 'Tete a Tete', mixed with tulips like ‘Banja Luka’, ‘Texas Gold’ or ‘Appledorn’ or perhaps some orange Fritillaria imperialis Rubra Maxima.



Although most spring blooming bulbs are planted in the fall, this spring we have a selection of spring blooming bulbs in pots for sale now. Instant gratification! For varieties that are not available now, mark your calendar for Labor Day weekend, which is when our stock of bulbs usually arrives. Or you can join our email list to be reminded.

For a peachy full-sun spot try, Quince (Chaenomeles) with English Daisies (Bellis), Rockcress (Arabis), Helleborus ‘Brandy Wine’, Daffodils 'Delnashaugh', Daffodils 'Parisienne', and Daffodils 'Fragrant Rose'. Sedum are a great full sun choice as well, especially the varieties of sedum and sempervivum that change color in the winter. Right about now you will see bright green leaves emerging from the red or orange winter versions of themselves.



Or what about an all green flowering combo with the pendulous yellow-green flowers of the Spike Winter Hazel shrub (Corylopsis spicata) as a back drop for the green blooms of Helleborus foetidus, Primula polyantha 'Francesca' or Fritillaria 'Ivory Bells'? Add in different shades and textures of green with a variety of ferns.




Or mix and match the colors of your early spring vignette so that it is a raucous explosion of color from March to May. Add an early blooming Magnolia, flowering cherry, or Eastern Red Bud tree to any of these vignettes and you will have a garden of boisterous cheerleaders branding their blooms like pompoms in celebration of spring and survival.

Sign Up For Cornell Cooperative's Garden Day!

One-day Gardening Extravaganza

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County’s Master Gardeners will help gardeners add style and flair to their gardens with the information they present at this year’s Garden Day, Saturday, April 16, 2011!

This all day event will take place at SUNY Ulster located at 491 Cottekill Rd. in Stone Ridge from 8:30am to 4:15pm and boast 16 hands-on and how-to classes for all gardeners from the newest beginners to the most advanced veterans. This year’s theme, “Going Native” features an array of experts talking on a variety of the hottest trends in gardening designs from all over the globe.

Everyone will gather in the Student Lounge at 9:00 am to begin the day with Key Note Speaker, Carolyn Summers. Summers, a landscape architect and author of
“Designing Gardens with Flora of the American East”, will discuss the importance of native plants and how to use them in your garden.

The Marketplace, which will be open during the lunch break, will include many local garden and gardening related vendors. Master Gardener volunteers will also be on hand to answer your gardening questions, perform FREE soil tests & plant identification and diseases diagnosis.

Participants can choose 4 separate classes for the day. Pre-registration is recommended to ensure class choices. The cost for 4 classes and a full day of garden advice is $35 per person before Friday, April 8, or $40 at the door. A boxed lunch may be pre-purchased for $8 or participants may bring their own lunch.

Victoria Coyne from Victoria Gardens will be teaching the class “Green Wall” at Garden Day. She will be exploring the hows and whys of green walls and green roofs, as well as chronicling her own “Green Wall” project - the process, the plants, and the pitfalls! There will be a slide show, a lecture, and a Q&A session afterward.

For more information contact Master Gardener Coordinator, Dona Crawford at
845-340-3990 ext. 335.

This one-day gardening extravaganza is a community educational program presented by the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County Master Gardener Program.

Registrations forms can be downloaded from the Cornell Cooperative website http://www.cceulster.org/ under the sidebar heading PROGRAM REGISTRATION FORMS and then under the link: Garden Day 2011 Information and Registration Form - Registration Deadline 4/8/11

Grow Ground Cherries

What are ground cherries? Ground cherries are a delightful bite-size fruit that has a taste, which is somehow a combination of vanilla, pineapple, strawberries, grapes and tomatoes with very mild acidity. Totally weird? Yes. Delicious? Yes! The Aunt Molly variety is particularly delightful.

Ken Green from Hudson Valley Seed Company says, “Many people asked me why they are not more commonly known. Although they have great flavor and are easy to grow, they are not well suited to mechanical harvesting and grocery store shelf life. They are, however, perfect for the grazing gardener.” This is precisely why the Hudson Valley Seed Library is so important, and why partners Doug Muller and Ken Greene, the founders of the seed library, emphasize saving and maintaining heirloom seed varieties and the heritage of our agricultural past.

“Most of our varieties are rooted in the history and soils of New York or are chosen because they do well here.” Muller says, “Every year we plan on growing additional varieties on the Seed Library farm in Accord, NY and contracting with organic and certified naturally grown farmers in the Hudson Valley and upstate New York to grow even more varieties.” Aunt Molly Ground Cherries and other heirloom seeds are available from www.seedlibrary.org and at local independent garden centers, like Victoria Gardens in Rosendale, NY.

How to grow: Ground cherries (Physalis sp.) are a member of the nightshade family, related to tomatoes and tomatillos, and enjoy similar growing conditions. Start your seeds inside the last week in March and transplant at least two plants to ensure pollination in mid-spring into a full sun spot in your garden or containers. Growers recommend either staking the plant to keep the fruit laden plant off the ground or trimming the plants in half after flowering for better production. Ground Cherries thrive in the heat. Treat them as annuals, but like tomatoes, you may get some volunteer seedlings the following year.

How to harvest: The green husks hanging from your Aunt Molly ground cherries will turn tan, and then when the fruit is finally ripe they will…you got it…fall on the ground! We suggest laying two old sheets under the plants when the husks are changing colors, then every couple days, just grab the corners and collect the fruit by bucketful!

How to store: Ground cherries still wrapped in their natural brown husks can be stored in a bowl on the counter for several weeks. Once peeled, the golden yellow fruit will keep in the refrigerator for one or two weeks. You can also freeze the unwrapped fruit on trays overnight and then store them in Ziploc bags the freezer. You can also use a dehydrator and store the dried fruit in airtight containers.

How to eat: We like them sun-warmed right off the ground from the garden, but you can also use them in jam, chutneys, fruit crumbles or pies. You can also toss them whole into green salads with almonds and balsamic vinaigrette, or chop them into a spicy sweet salsa.

See recipe below:


Aunt Molly’s Sweet and Spicy Ground Cherry Salsa


1/2 pint of Aunt Molly ground cherries

2 tbsp chopped red onion

1 Jimmy Nardello red sweet pepper diced

1 tsp Matchbox spicy or or jalapeño pepper diced

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup chopped pineapples or peaches

Cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper to taste

Peel the tan husks off the ground cherries, and rinse the golden yellow fruit. Slice each ground cherry in half. Mix in a bowl with red onion, red pepper, Matchbox or jalapeño pepper, oil, and either ½ cup of chopped pineapples or peaches. Toss together. Tear or chop cilantro leaves and stir into the mixture. Finally salt and pepper to taste, and serve with tortilla chips or use as a topping for quesadillas, white fish, or chicken.

Seeds for growing Aunt Molly ground cherries, Jimmy Nardello red sweet pepper, Matchbox spicy pepper, Tam jalapeño pepper, and many more heirloom vegetables are available from the Hudson Valley Seed Library at www.seedlibrary.com or at independent garden centers, like Victoria Gardens in Rosendale, NY www.victoriagardens.biz.

Early Spring Bloomers: Hellebores

We have been big fans of Hellebores for many years, because they are hardy, deer resistant shade plants, and they are one of the first perennials to bloom late winter/early spring. Many varieties push their delicate blooms up through the snow, and the evergreen foliage is a welcome winter sight. Lucky for us, this year our growers are offering a myriad of new and exciting varieties.

Multiple varieties of hellebore should be in everyone’s garden, after all, who isn’t in desperate need of some landscape color at the end of a tough, brutal winter?

Although they have been very popular, but we still have some of the early spring ladies in stock, 'Rachel', Mary Lou', and 'Rosemary.' Plus we have 'Ivory Prince', 'Josef Lemper', and 'Royal Heritage.' We are getting a new delivery of Hellebores this week, so stop by to make sure you pick up yours.

Tools We Love: Part 2

In March only all tools are 15% off at Victoria Gardens in Rosendale, NY.
Here are some of our favorites to help with container planting:


Japanese Planting Knife – The Garden Warrior:



After you start to use this tool, you will find many more uses for it than you could have imagined. It is an essential, all-purpose tool for transplanting, weeding, cutting, and so much more. “I like it for planting in the garden,” Victoria says, “And also for the potting shed.” The knife can cut open a bag of potting soil, loosen soil in an old container, cut through pot bound roots, and then be used like a trowel. It doesn’t bend or break, even in rockiest, root-choked conditions. It’s a true garden warrior.


You will find 101 uses for these – TubTrugs:



Tubtrugs are lightweight and almost indestructible containers with heavy duty, comfort grip handles, and best of all you can use them for everything! Tote soil or mulch to another part of the garden or transport weeds to the compost pile. Use them to harvest veggies from your garden or apples from the orchard. The food-grade material can be used inside or out as ice buckets for tailgating or camping, or even as a large flexible dustpan. Victoria loves these Tubtrugs and even uses them instead of watering cans. “I also love the shallow ones for repotting house plants and for letting potted plants soak in a shallow bath of water and fertilizer.” The Tubtrugs are available in recycled plastic and six different sizes.

Tools We Love: Part 1

In March only all tools are 15% off at Victoria Gardens in Rosendale, NY.
Here are some of our favorites. These four in particular help with spring clean up:

The Amazingly Astounding, Magical Expanding Rake – It Changes Right Before Your Eyes:

You can adjust the width of this rake to easily fit in between shrubs and plantings. It’s lightweight and easily adjusts from 7” to 24” with the pull of a lever. Solid steel tines, coated in rustproof zinc. Try not to step into your garden when the ground is still super muddy and soft. You can compress roots and damage plants, so use this rake, and stand at the edge of your garden, unless you have a path or stepping stones placed where you know you won't be stepping on the crowns of as yet unseen perennials.



Once you've raked out your garden, pick up the pile with these:
Hand Rake “Grabbers” – Pick Up More:

Not only do these durable “grabbers” aid in picking up large amounts of leaves and debris, they protect your hands form sticks, thorns, needles, and slimy slugs! Spring, summer, and fall, you will find these “extra hands” indispensable -
especially for leaves, compost, mulch, and muck.



Weeders – You won’t believe how “hooked” you’ll be!

If you’ve never used a weeder before, you are in for a treat. “Both are great. I haven’t decided which one I like best.” Victoria says. The hand-forged Dutch weeder was recommended by another professional landscaper, who swears this tool becomes “an extention” of her own body. These metal weeders have a nice weight and reach to them, and are available in a “left-handed” or “right handed” configuration.



The other weeder is called the Cobra, because of the sharp, heart-shaped end of the curved tool. The point easily penetrates deep into the soil and with a twist of the wrist tap roots, crab grass, and all other manner of dastardly garden thugs are snatched out of the soil.



These weeder tools also make handy helpers when sowing seeds directly into the garden. The nifty point easily makes furrows as deep or as shallow as you like.

Large scale evergreen shrubs: Pieris 'Scarlet O'Hara', Pieris x 'Karanoma', and Pieris 'Summer Hill'

Large scale, spring blooming, deer resistant, shade-loving evergreen Pieris shrubs offer privacy and screening in shady spaces, where other shrubs would struggle.







Pieris 'Scarlet O'Hara': 8 –10’ tall and 4 –5’ wide. Prominent flower buds all winter. White flowers in April. Reddish bronze new growth.




The hardiest of all Pieris, Karanoma grows quickly to 10' x 6'. Offers upright panicles of white flowers and handsome evergreen foliage year-round.




Pieris 'Summer Hill': 9-12’ tall by 6-9’ wide. Thick, lustrous leaves emerge brick red - excellent branching, fast grower. White flowers.